Many residential ovens which include electric heating elements include a broiler heating element mounted in an upper portion of a cooking cavity of the oven. The broiler heating element is activated to broil food items which are placed on an oven rack located directly underneath the broiler heating element.
A side view of the interior of such a residential oven is illustrated in FIG. 1. As shown therein, the residential oven 100 includes a rear wall 102, a lower wall 104 and an upper wall 106. A door 105 is attached to the front of the oven and the door 105 can be opened and shut using a handle 107.
The plurality of rack mounts 103 are provided on opposite sidewalls of the oven. This allows one or more racks 109 to be mounted in the interior of the oven 100 at different heights.
A lower heating element 111 is provided in a lower portion of the cooking cavity of the oven 100. In addition, a broiler heating element 110 is located in an upper portion of the cooking cavity. The broiler heating element 110 can be used in conjunction with the lower heating element 111 during a normal baking operation. Alternatively, the lower heating element 111 alone might be used during a baking operation.
During a broiling operation, the lower heating element 111 is typically turned off, and the broiler heating element 110 alone is activated. The broiler heating element 110 emits heat and radiant energy which is projected downward onto the food items located on the rack 109 located directly underneath the broiler heating element 110.
A broiler heating element 110 is typically constructed of a relatively thick resistive wire which has a circular cross sectional shape. When electricity passes through the broiler heating element 110, the electricity causes the wire to emit heat and radiant energy. The radiant energy is emitted in all directions around the circular circumference of the wire. When a broiling operation is being conducted, the radiant energy emitted from the broiler heating element browns food items on an underlying rack.
While the radiant heat which is emitted downward from the broiler heating element impinges directly on food elements located beneath the broiler heating element, radiant heat which is emitted sideways or upward does not tend to reach the food items located underneath the broiler heating element.
In addition, because of the way broiler heating elements are shaped, more heat and radiant energy tends to impinge upon the center portions of an underlying rack than the front and rear portions of the underlying rack. This can result in uneven cooking and uneven browning of food items located on an underlying rack.